For Lansdale resident Dan Mugrauer, his latest work of art provided the opportunity to set aside his normal tools of the trade — ink and needle — and take his art in a totally new direction. Instead of body art, he focused on fine art to create the official 2018 Musikfest poster.

Last fall, the 28-year-old was approached by ArtsQuest to create the image that will be used in almost every element of the festival, from official Musikfest apparel to the famed mugs.

Kassie Hilgert, president and CEO of ArtsQuest, says that ArtsQuest was looking to take the Musikfest artwork in a new direction for the festival’s 35th anniversary Aug. 3-12 in Bethlehem.

“Dan’s skill as a tattoo artist, coupled with some of his fine art training, really led him to develop his own style, combining classical artistic elements with the more contemporary stylings of tattoo art,” Hilgert says. “This poster not only honors our festival and our city’s history, it also incorporates many of those timeless elements that people love about Musikfest. We were looking for something totally different this year and Dan really nailed it.”

We asked Mugrauer to tell us about his career and his work:

Q: How long have you been a tattoo artist and how did you get into it? Do you have your own shop?

A: I’ve been tattooing for six years. I started tattooing after realizing art school wasn’t for me and dropping out, but still wanted to make money in an art-related field. And yes, I recently opened Blood Moon Tattoo Syndicate in Ambler with my superhero business partner Hayli Marquiss.

Q: Do you have a tattoo specialty? Is there some style or type of design you are known for?

A: I’d say anything that I can put my own spin on is pretty much up my alley. I guess by definition my style would be considered either illustrative or neo-traditional.

Q: Do you do artwork other than tattoos?

A: Absolutely. I paint as much as I can in my free time and I’m almost always drawing. I’m also always open to commission work, which I’ve been getting more of lately, which I’ve loved. I’ve done custom paintings, logos, album artwork and more.

Q: How was ArtsQuest familiar with your work?

A: My girlfriend, Sherry, was working a summer internship with ArtsQuest and someone there saw the tattoos she had by me and asked who did them.

Q: How did it come about that you were asked to do the poster?

A: After getting my information from Sherry, they reached out to meet over coffee to talk ideas, which we did in early October of 2017 with Jon Lunger (marketing director) and Juliann Masenheimer (lead creative). In November, I was told they wanted me to be the one to do this year’s design and I got started almost immediately.

Q: Are you a Musikfest fan?

A: I am! I’ve gone to a handful of them over the past decade or so. I also think it’s awesome to have such a large scale and longstanding festival in this area.

Q: What kind of direction did you get from ArtsQuest? What was the organization looking for?

A: They told me they wanted to go a different direction than the previous art over the years, due to it being an anniversary year as well as just wanting something a little different than people were used to. They essentially gave me a list of things they wanted included in the design and to represent the festival and the city of Bethlehem and let me at it. They included SteelStacks, Artie the owl, train tracks, a lyre and the star of Bethlehem.

Q: What was your process in coming up with a design?

A: I did some research on the city, Bethlehem Steel and the festival itself to start. From there it was a collaboration with ArtsQuest and myself to figure out the best imagery to use. There were a few ideas we were toying with in the early stages, but after a while we decided on SteelStacks and the steel guitar as the main focal point.

Q: Tell me about the poster design. How did you decide what to put in the poster and what to focus on?

A: I knew I wanted to include SteelStacks since its such a staple in the community, and it simply seemed like it’d be fun to draw. To tie in the more “tattoo-y” elements I used the banners to communicate the necessary festival information and flowers as a background element, which I’ve always viewed as elements that are synonymous with the art of tattoos.

Q: Tell me about your flowers. I understand they are among the signature elements of your work.

A: They’ve sort of become a signature element of mine over time, for sure. I just view them as classic, in all forms of art, and its a great way to add a design element to a piece while keeping the general focal points prominent.

Q: What kind of response have you received?

A: So far it’s been mostly good! Thank goodness. As with anything put on the internet these days, I knew it would be susceptible to criticism as well as praise. I’m trying my best not to read too far into any of that because it’s more anxiety inducing than anything else, but from what I’ve seen, it seems like a pretty positive response, which I’m thankful for.

jodi.duckett@mcall.com610-820-6704

DETAILS

Musikfest

What: The largest free music festival in the country features more than 500 performances on 14 stages